Defend the cause of the fatherless...

"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;
maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
Rescue the weak and needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked."
Psalm 82:3-4

"Stop doing wrong,
learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow."
Isaiah 1:16-17

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  James 1:27

The command is clear.  And with it comes a sweet invitation to join our Heavenly Father in His beautiful work.  We have the opportunity to play a role in bringing restoration to this broken world. 

God calls us to reach out to those who are less fortunate than us.  This has been impressed on my heart a lot these past few weeks.  Who are the "oppressed" around me?  How can I "defend the cause of the fatherless"?   Am I seeking and welcoming opportunities to do these things the Lord has so specifically required?

Here in Jinja, the opportunities are easy to find.  The heartache and need is evident all around.  Each and every day we are given the chance to extend the love of Christ to orphans and widows.  And it's not just because it's our job at Children of Grace.  While we are blessed to work with orphaned children every day but our work does not stop when we go home.  At every corner there are chances to care for the oppressed.

I was given the opportunity to help with the medical care at an orphanage in town while their nurse was away for Christmas.  Mike and I have been blessed to love on a little boy who was neglected and malnourished.  Our dear friend nursed him back to health and we have been able to continue following up on his progress.  We have taken him for hospital visits and check ups and he is now doing well.  We can walk up the street to the children's hospital and hold little ones or take them coloring books and crayons.  And we can stop by a local orphanage to play with the children on a day off.

I am grateful for a new understanding of LIFE as service.  We can hardly escape the daily needs of the people around us.  And we are welcomed to help and serve at any moment.  While I understand the purpose of rules and regulations back home in the states, it can feel impossible to help another.  To volunteer means applications, training, a scheduled weekly appointment, and more.  But here, service is a way of life.  I have learned to see the time spent talking with the guard on our compound as a way to bless him.  We can ask how his day is going, how his family is doing, show compassion when he is sick.  We can bless the local ladies in the market and the men who drive us around on motorcycle taxis.  And yet, at home I could go through days where I barely interacted with those in my community.  I could get in my car in the morning and drive back home in the evening and never reach out, never serve, never encourage a stranger. 

Don't get me wrong, there are days where I think I would rather go to work and ignore the problems of the world.  There are many times when I'd prefer to go out to dinner with my husband without having street kids beg for money.  And yet, I am mistaken.  I want to learn to praise the Lord for these opportunities.  It is a blessing to be invited to join Him and to have the chance to answer the call.

While we don't yet know what the next year holds, this has been heavy on my heart as I think about what it would be like to go "home."  I am a little afraid.  I would greatly miss these opportunities and I want to continue to answer this call.  I challenge each of you to think about what it means to hear and obey these commands.  You don't have to live in Africa to do it.  I have been convicted and I am thankful for this change of heart and perspective.

When I think of how the Lord has adopted me into his family, how He laid down His life to make me His daughter, I am overwhelmed by His great love for me.  How could I not respond by extending that love to others?  I pray He would remind me of this reality each day and that I would remember the blessing it brings to my life.  My life is so much more rich.  And how could it not be...

Thank you, Jesus that you've offered me hope.  May I be extend this same hope to others through you.

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18